Mobile devices become smaller and at the same time more complex.
One challenge in mobile phone user interface design is that the spatial requirements for the keypad to shrink along with the other mechanical parts. This is especially pronounced in the thickness of the parts, as the devices are driven to more slim design.
Another challenge in mobile phone user interface design is to provide a user interface that is intuitive, easy to learn, behaves in a consistent, predictable manner and makes the best use of limited operation face surface area. A user interface needs to provide a sufficient number of controls to manage the inherent complexity of the mobile phone whilst ensuring that there are not too many controls are options available to the user at any one time, thereby causing confusion.
Thus, aspects of the invention aim to provide a user interface that is better adapted to meet these contradicting demands.
The above also applies to various types of mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDA's, music or multimedia players, cameras, navigation devices, etc.